The Power of Book Making

As new initiatives come thick and fast into the education world, we are sometimes in danger of forgetting the power of some of the most tried and tested ways of engaging children to become writers. One such way, a particular favourite of The Literacy Tree, is book-making. There was once a time when no undergraduate teacher course was complete without at least one lecture on how to bind books using the “needle-and-thread method”! In fact, some of my most fondly treasured school memories are making our own topic books, whether they were about space, WW2 or a retelling of my favourite stories. Yes, Mr Barrett was definitely a fan of the needle-and-thread method! Such books, always complete with a ‘marbled’ cover and flaps and fold-outs aplenty. In fact, I still have most of them to this date and I still remember the excitement with which I darted out of school, clutching my newly-created book, ready to show it off at home.

Well, we’re not suggesting that you necessarily turn your hands to sewing to create books in the classroom or at home, but whether it’s as a final published outcome to an engaging teaching sequence, as an exciting writing-area task or at home as a fun holiday activity, there is book making idea for you.

It is at this point that we often turn to the well-known celebrity face of this art-form, Paul Johnson, who runs a number of courses on book-making as well as having written a number of books on the subject (Book Making by Paul Johnson ISBN 978-0713650778, one of our personal favourites is a great place to start). He advocates simple, fun and quick-to-make books, one for which all you will need is a piece of A3 paper or card and a pair of scissors. One snip and three simple folds and ‘hey presto’ you have your basic book, from which you can move into hardback suitcase books, or a little bit more simple cutting gets you a delightful pop-up creation. I have been witness to excited groups of year 1 children making such books, whether it’s as a simple ‘Phoneme Book’ or to retell classic fairytales.

If you’re feeling slightly more ambitious and ready to embrace technology to support your publishing, there are numerous websites, which, for a modest fee, will let you upload images and text to create your own full-colour, glossy hard or soft bound books in a range of sizes. This is a great way for older children to create something really significant, that they will be able to cherish for a lifetime and also a great way for groups of children and whole classes (even whole schools) to publish short stories or their own poems. Our personal favourite is www.blurb.com for its simplicity of use and great results! The more you order – the cheaper it gets! Another great online self-publisher is www.lulu.com, which allows you to purchase your books through Amazon.

For general tips and ideas on how to make your own texts, we also love www.makingbooks.com, where Susan Kapuscinski takes you through some lovely, creative ideas for book making at home or school.

We often encourage book-making as a way of creating a tangible sense of audience and purpose for writing on our courses and in the teaching sequences we are often asked to write for publishers. If you would like to learn more about book making and take away some creative ideas for your own books, why not book The Literacy Tree to run a book making course at your school or for a group of parents:

theliteracytree.co.uk/parents-workshops